To be fair, there are a lot of unknowns on this team...and that's not a good thing. With just that in mind I'm thinking that it's fair to be pessimistic.

To be fair, the 2005 team had a lot of unknowns. (Please understand I am not predicting that every unknown will turn out well, and I am not predicting the 2013 White Sox will win the World Series.)

Nevertheless, the 2005 Sox had:

A starting catcher who had been released from his previous team, backed up by a career minor leaguer;

A first baseman who had a great 2004 after an abysmal 2003;

A second baseman who had never played a game in the USA;

A shortstop who struck out a lot swinging for the fences;

A third baseman with a long swing who had yet to hit consistently at the MLB level;

A LF who had no power;

A CF who had a nice 2004 but was still questionable;

An injury-prone RF;

A DH on the DL and another who was a headcase;

A starting rotation consisting of a #2 who was a Seattle flyball pitcher, a Cuban import who was inconsistent at best in NY, another Cuban import who seemed to be on the downside of his career, another who had yet to harness his talent and had done time in the bullpen in 2004, and an "ace" who had had a few great years for the Sox but whose K/9 rate was dropping;

A bullpen with a gimmick closer.

__________________The universe is the practical joke of the General at the expense of the Particular, quoth Frater Perdurabo, and laughed. The disciples nearest him wept, seeing the Universal Sorrow. Others laughed, seeing the Universal Joke. Others wept. Others laughed. Others wept because they couldn't see the Joke, and others laughed lest they should be thought not to see the Joke. But though FRATER laughed openly, he wept secretly; and really he neither laughed nor wept. Nor did he mean what he said.

To be fair, the 2005 team had a lot of unknowns. (Please understand I am not predicting that every unknown will turn out well, and I am not predicting the 2013 White Sox will win the World Series.)

Nevertheless, the 2005 Sox had:

A starting catcher who had been released from his previous team, backed up by a career minor leaguer;

A first baseman who had a great 2004 after an abysmal 2003;

A second baseman who had never played a game in the USA;

A shortstop who struck out a lot swinging for the fences;

A third baseman with a long swing who had yet to hit consistently at the MLB level;

A LF who had no power;

A CF who had a nice 2004 but was still questionable;

An injury-prone RF;

A DH on the DL and another who was a headcase;

A starting rotation consisting of a #2 who was a Seattle flyball pitcher, a Cuban import who was inconsistent at best in NY, another Cuban import who seemed to be on the downside of his career, another who had yet to harness his talent and had done time in the bullpen in 2004, and an "ace" who had had a few great years for the Sox but whose K/9 rate was dropping;

A bullpen with a gimmick closer.

Fair enough point. I certainly realize that it's possible for the White Sox to win the world series again. I just don't see it as particularly likely, with so many question marks.

You have to be optimistic in life, otherwise you can grow up to be like Jay Mariotti. I've been upbeat about the 2013 White Sox season simply because I think they're going to better in 2013 than what they were in 2012. That being the case the Playoffs will be reached by the White Sox in 2013. There will be dancing in the streets on the great Southside of Chicago this October when the White Sox are in the Playoffs. It'll be good to see one team from Chicago in the 2013 Playoffs.

To be fair, the 2005 team had a lot of unknowns. (Please understand I am not predicting that every unknown will turn out well, and I am not predicting the 2013 White Sox will win the World Series.)

Nevertheless, the 2005 Sox had:

A starting catcher who had been released from his previous team, backed up by a career minor leaguer;

A first baseman who had a great 2004 after an abysmal 2003;

A second baseman who had never played a game in the USA;

A shortstop who struck out a lot swinging for the fences;

A third baseman with a long swing who had yet to hit consistently at the MLB level;

A LF who had no power;

A CF who had a nice 2004 but was still questionable;

An injury-prone RF;

A DH on the DL and another who was a headcase;

A starting rotation consisting of a #2 who was a Seattle flyball pitcher, a Cuban import who was inconsistent at best in NY, another Cuban import who seemed to be on the downside of his career, another who had yet to harness his talent and had done time in the bullpen in 2004, and an "ace" who had had a few great years for the Sox but whose K/9 rate was dropping;

A bullpen with a gimmick closer.

If players were robots, maybe we could predict the outcome of the season from past performance and statistical analysis. But a lot of human-related things can happen during the season that makes the season worth watching, on both ends of the spectrum - from injuries to career years.

You have to be optimistic in life, otherwise you can grow up to be like Jay Mariotti. I've been upbeat about the 2013 White Sox season simply because I think they're going to better in 2013 than what they were in 2012. That being the case the Playoffs will be reached by the White Sox in 2013. There will be dancing in the streets on the great Southside of Chicago this October when the White Sox are in the Playoffs. It'll be good to see one team from Chicago in the 2013 Playoffs.

You're right on many levels. And in my everyday life I'm about as positive a person there is. Last year i was wrong in thinking sox would go 72-90. Im still not sure of how they some of the games they did. I'm not sure where they will be this year, but on paper they make me incredibly nervous. I loved the intangibles and intelligence that AJ brought and worry what that will bring.
When it come to Chicago sports lately, I just have not liked the intangibles of a few of the players. I think power is important, but I prefer consistnecy and day to day production much more. The 2005 team was great because they could do so many things well to score runs and beat you. They didn't rely on the 40+ home run guy who strikes out 200+ times. I've never been a fan of the Thome/Dunn type player. The sox have really only done well with one team like that in the last 30 years and that was 83 luzinski/kittle. There have been 3 players who I think are polarizing figures for where people stand for this team: peavy, rios, and Dunn. I have been pretty vocal in my dislike of peavy and Dunn on sox and pretty vocal in support of the tools Alex brings. I think the high salaries vs the return haven't really been productive and at times hinders the teams finances. Only time will tell, but the Tigers are gonna be formidable.
As for trades, I don't see any on horizon. I'm not real sure of contract status and who will be trade bait at the deadline. Anyone know that?

__________________
Do the white sox know that it is Designated Hitter, not Designated Out?

You're right on many levels. And in my everyday life I'm about as positive a person there is. Last year i was wrong in thinking sox would go 72-90. Im still not sure of how they some of the games they did. I'm not sure where they will be this year, but on paper they make me incredibly nervous. I loved the intangibles and intelligence that AJ brought and worry what that will bring.
When it come to Chicago sports lately, I just have not liked the intangibles of a few of the players. I think power is important, but I prefer consistnecy and day to day production much more. The 2005 team was great because they could do so many things well to score runs and beat you. They didn't rely on the 40+ home run guy who strikes out 200+ times. I've never been a fan of the Thome/Dunn type player. The sox have really only done well with one team like that in the last 30 years and that was 83 luzinski/kittle. There have been 3 players who I think are polarizing figures for where people stand for this team: peavy, rios, and Dunn. I have been pretty vocal in my dislike of peavy and Dunn on sox and pretty vocal in support of the tools Alex brings. I think the high salaries vs the return haven't really been productive and at times hinders the teams finances. Only time will tell, but the Tigers are gonna be formidable.
As for trades, I don't see any on horizon. I'm not real sure of contract status and who will be trade bait at the deadline. Anyone know that?

We should probably stop making the Thome/Dunn comparison. I kinda like Dunn, but he's nowhere near the hitter Jim Thome was. Thome regularly hit near .300, along with the walks, and didn't strike out quite as much.

Also, looking at it in a macro sense, the two main things the '05 Sox did were to hit a ton of homers and have really, really good starting pitching. I know it's not what a lot of statisticians love, but I like it. It was the only thing that won for my favorite team, and I think this team could do that.

Also, looking at it in a macro sense, the two main things the '05 Sox did were to hit a ton of homers and have really, really good starting pitching. I know it's not what a lot of statisticians love, but I like it. It was the only thing that won for my favorite team, and I think this team could do that.

They also had an exceptional bullpen thanks to a couple of well-timed career years by otherwise unremarkable pitchers (looking at you, Luis Vizcaino, Cliff Politte, Neal Cotts, and Dustin Hermanson) that helped mask a lot of the shortcomings of their otherwise mediocre offense.